“With e-reader prices dropping like a stone and major tech players jumping into the book retail business, what room is left for publishers’ profits? The surprising answer: ads. They’re coming soon to a book near you.”
Tag: 08.19.10
The Killer Broads of Prohibition-Era Chicago
“Single girls from the country were living all alone in the big city for the first time. The shops, the offices, the factories all needed women to smile pretty, to take dictation, and sew. The cabarets and speakeasies needed them to bring in men. … Grab a cocktail and a man, honey, we all might be dead tomorrow.”
‘X-Phi’ (Experimental Philosophy) – Exploring the Great Questions in the Lab
Traditionally, the discipline of philosophy has been pursued in a chair at a desk. “But recently, ‘experimental’ philosophers have used surveys, fMRI’s, and other tools from psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science to analyze age-old philosophical problems.” Half a dozen professors debate whether x-phi is a promising new approach or a waste of time, money and equipment.
The World’s Bravest In-Flight Magazine
“American Airlines’ magazine lists the 10 best pizza parlors in America. United Airlines has a spread headlined ‘3 Perfect Days: Amsterdam,’ … In the seat pocket in front of you on Safi [Airways]” – a start-up Afghan airline – “you will find an article on Kabul heroin addicts, photos of bullet-pocked tourist sites and ads for mine-resistant sport-utility vehicles.”
As James Levine’s Health Problems Persist, Two Major Orchestras Have A Problem
Boston fans still give Levine credit for making the orchestra play better when he’s there, but at this point he usually isn’t. “My sense is that the public and the musicians themselves are very frustrated with the situation,” Eichler says, “as surely Levine must be as well.”
Judge Stops Fisk University From Selling Share Of Its O’Keeffe Collection
“A judge on Friday rejected Fisk University’s latest attempt to sell to an Arkansas museum a joint stake in a 101-piece collection donated to the school by the late artist Georgia O’Keeffe.”
Eli Broad Says His LA Museum Plan Hasn’t Been Decided Yet
“Broad will not say until Monday, after the Grand Avenue Authority casts the final vote on the proposal, whether he’ll build the museum downtown or at a site offered by the City of Santa Monica.”
In NY Schools – More Arts Teachers, Shrinking Budget
“While the hiring of arts teachers has indeed inched up, spending on arts supplies, such as musical instruments, theater costumes, crayons and construction paper, decreased by 68 percent, or $7.2 million, since the start of the 2006-2007 school year. Spending on partnerships with cultural institutions has fallen by 31 percent.”
This Year’s Newcomers to the OED Include ‘Staycation’ and ‘Vuvuzela’
“The World Cup in South Africa, climate change, the credit crunch and technology have all left their mark on the way we talk, the new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English reveals, as the latest crop of new words to be added to its pages is published today.”
AP Names New Theatre Critic
Mark Kennedy, who worked at the Associated Press for 13 years before moving to AOL News in March, returns to the agency to take up the theater/entertainment beat left vacant following the death of Michael Kuchwara in May.